


Eternity

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: I Take Pride in What I Am 2020 [15]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Breaking The Rules, F/F, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Immortality, Near Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24893347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Erza had explained the laws of the Gods, wanting Evergreen to understand her hesitations, the secrecy, the times when Erza couldn’t come to her… and why the Ambrosia she carried wasn’t for humans. “But I don’t want to lose you.” I can’t, she thinks, heart, twisting in a way she had never experienced before at the thought of losing this woman that she has known for so long.That she loves.
Relationships: Erza Scarlet/Evergreen
Series: I Take Pride in What I Am 2020 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771147
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3
Collections: I Take Pride in What I Am 2020





	Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that if you want to talk to me about my fics and writing, or anime/shows/games in general then you can now find me on discord [The Unholy Trinity](https://discord.gg/6sSddAWa5c).

Erza had waited as long as she could, hovering in the space between worlds as she watched the humans come and go, scurrying around the frail form in the bed, listening to their frantic whispers and quiet grief. There had been a time when she hadn’t cared about such emotions when she had revelled in her armour heart that kept her safe from such ‘humanity’. Now, it tugged at her, and she wished that there was something that she could say or do to ease the loss they were bracing themselves for. It was tempting to step out into the open, to tell them that there was more to the world that they knew, to tell them that the woman in the bed wasn’t going to fall here and now. However, she locked her knees and held herself still, burying that urge as deep as she could. Just being here was bending if not breaking at least a couple of rules, and what she was planning on doing would shatter a good dozen or so of the laws that kept the Gods away from humans.

_See what you have done to me,_ she thought, shifting so that she had a better view of the bed. Her heart quickening as her gaze fell on the pale, weathered features of the woman brought low by age and illness, by her humanity. The same humanity that Erza should have been wary of and should have avoided, but instead had been drawn to like a moth to a flame. She wondered what her mother would say if she could see her now. Eileen had always had a fondness for mortals, especially humans, but she had been adamant about keeping the rules, having seen what became of the world when Gods and Humans came too close together. Erza could understand, after all her mother had almost been destroyed the last time that had happened, corrupted, losing her purpose and path and almost bringing everything toppling down in her attempt to regain what had been lost. But this was different, she was different, and this wasn’t about humans… it was about one.

It was about Evergreen,

Erza could still remember their first encounter with startling clarity, the memory having never faded as so many did in a mind filled with so much.

_War had come to the human lands again, and she had been called to Fiore by their pleas and prayers. Goddess of War and Protection, she had answered them, walking among their armies, blessing their weapons and defences, whispering strategy in their ears, faith in their heart._

_It had been in one of those camps that she had come across the people who had been displaced by the conflict. Men, women and children forced to flee their homes to survive. These people prayed to her for an end to the fighting, for the end of the war so they could go home and back to the lives they lived. For the most part, they didn’t want to fight unless necessary, they just wanted to survive, and there was little that she could do for them, even as she pitied them. It wasn’t her responsibility, and the laws limited what mercy she could grant them._

_There had been one prayer that was different. Hot with anger, burning with grief and shadowed by fear, it had called to her across the length of the camp. A siren song to one such as her, and at the end of its trail she had found Evergreen. Little more than a child, the girl had been crouched between two boys, both heavily bandaged and lying still as she held their hands. Not dead, but close, Erza could feel it, the scales on a knife-edge and she honestly couldn’t say which way it would go. As she’d stood over them, the girl had looked up as though she knew exactly where she was, eyes penetrating in a way that no human, let alone a child should be. She was hurting for them, worried and afraid, but it was with anger and determination that she met Erza’s gaze._

_“I want to fight for them.” A plea, and a promise. Words that held power of their own and Erza had been powerless to deny her anything at that moment, closing the gap between them, visible now for the world to see, although her power would stop anyone else looking too closely._

_“You will,” Erza murmured, reaching out to rest a hand on the girl’s head, power infusing her words and touch. A blessing unlike any she had given before. “What is your name?” She shouldn’t ask, the boundaries between them already blurred, but the words were out before she could stop them._

_“E- Evergreen…”_

Evergreen.

The child she had blessed that night had fought, and won, using magic that her enemies had never seen before, Erza’s blessing shimmering on her skin. Her friends had survived, and the blessing had bled into them, the boundaries too blurred to prevent it, and the war had ended, peace arriving, with their names heralded as heroes. That had been the first time Erza had been warned about the laws and reminded not to overstep the boundaries with the humans, and she had agreed after all Evergreen was safe now and there was no need to meet again.

But they did.

Again, and again, Erza crossed paths with her blessed one. Now a full mage, travelling and working, fighting. A warrior with a Goddess’ blessing. She always knew when Evergreen was fighting, a rush filling her, fleeting images in her mind. Just as she knew when the girl… now a woman was hurt, an echo of the pain tingling in her own body, and each time Erza went to her.

Sometimes, she would just watch from afar as people – usually the boys, or rather the men – that Evergreen had fought for patched up her blessed one, healing her and forcing her to rest. That always brought a smile to Erza’s lips, because she had been the same when she was younger. Once or twice, when she found Evergreen separated from the others, she would guide help to her, whispering in their ears. Telling herself that it was no different than giving them strategy, excusing her own bending of the laws. Then had come the day when Evergreen had been far from anyone who could help her and hovering far too close to the realm of the God of Death, and Erza had gone to her, stepping between worlds to reach her side.

_“I knew you would c-come,” Evergreen had whispered, managing a smile despite the blood bubbling in the corner of her mouth, and the pain lining her face. Far too close to the edge, and Erza had flinched, both at her words – and what they might mean – and the sight of the wounds that had laid her low. Too much for human healers, possibly too much for what she could do. “My L-lady…” There was a strange possessiveness to her words that should have troubled Erza, but instead, it coiled tight and warmed her, a crack in the armour around her heart._

_Were it not for the fact that it was her blessing that had given Evergreen her power, she might have thought that the woman had bewitched her, as she found herself kneeling beside her with a strained smile. “Yes, I came,” she murmured, eyes on the wounds once more. For what good it will do, she thought, before faltering as an idea occurred to her. A terrible, wonderful…dangerous idea. Her hand slipping to the flask at her belt, trembling fingers brushing over the golden cork. This wasn’t a bending of rules, it was a shattering of them. Too dangerous, her mother’s voice whispered in her mind, as Evergreen cried out in pain and reached for her, pleading for help and comfort, and Erza’s fingers tightened on the cork. “I can help,” she said before she lost her nerve, swallowing as Evergreen looked at her with hope in her eyes. “But there is a cost…”_

_“P-please…” Desperate, pleading, not asking for the cost. Not caring. Erza knew that she should explain first, that she had a duty to do that much if she was going to do this, but seeing Evergreen in pain was too much, and she pulled the flash from her belt. The cork sang as she opens it, the promise that lay within, colouring the world around them golden. Taking a deep breath, she tilted it, just enough for one large, golden drop to roll out onto her fingertip before she righted it and replaced the cork._

_“Here,” Erza murmured, reaching out with her other hand to lift Evergreen’s head, before nudging the woman’s lips with her finger. Trusting, too trusting, Evergreen obeyed and opened her mouth, letting Erza dip the finger inside, letting the drop fall onto her tongue, before pulling away. “Just don’t hate me…” She pleaded as Evergreen closed her mouth and swallowed convulsively. Gold shimmered in Evergreen’s eyes, and spread through her body, gathering around wounds – both the new, life-threatening ones and old long healed ones – banishing them as though they had never been. Easing away lines of pain and laughter, and faint signs of age, as Erza returned her flask to its place on her belt, before rising and stepping back._

_“Wait…” Already Evergreen sounded stronger, and younger too. Not enough that many would notice, but to Erza it was as clear as day. “What was the cost…?”_

_“You will see…”_

How many years ago had that been? Too many. Far too many for a human to live, because that had been the cost of that single droplet. Ambrosia. That which belongs to the Gods and is only to be consumed by them and their children had saved Evergreen’s life, had healed her… from all the imperfections of her life, including age, and extended her life, beyond what any person should endure.

Erza had waited for the anger and blame, especially as the years crept by, and the ones Evergreen loved fell to the whims of fate and time. But the closest they had come, had been when Evergreen had called her to demand to know what was happening, why she was ageing so slowly, and why nothing ever scarred. _You should have told me,_ Evergreen had told her, but she hadn’t blamed her or cursed her for it. _You saved my life,_ she had told Erza when the Goddess had finally gathered the courage to ask why, _because of that I had a lifetime with the people I loved._ It hadn’t always been that simple, and Erza had learned not to get too close when Evergreen was grieving because the woman had no care for the fact that she was addressing a Goddess when she cursed and lashed out in her pain.

And so, the years had passed. Erza came and went as conflict and prayers demanded. The world changed, and then changed again, but war remained the same, humans always finding some way to fight one another. But Evergreen was a constant, and it was no longer just for prayers, or when she was hurt, sometimes Erza would go to her on a whim, sometimes to watch, other times just to talk or sit in comfortable silence. Other times, Evergreen would call her with a prayer, just to show her the world around her, the life she had now, this human woman who didn’t age as she should.

A forbidden friendship that eventually had become something more.

A fleeting kiss after a job gone wrong had called her to Evergreen’s side again. She couldn’t remember which of them moved first, just that she hadn’t retreated, hadn’t listened to her mother’s voice or the laws that had been drummed into her from the moment she came into being. It should have felt wrong, but it had been like coming home, or the first breath of a new world and Erza had known there and then that there was no walking away from this.

From her.

Years had trickled past, marked in shared, stolen moments. Kisses in the shadow of the world, hidden from the eyes of the other Gods. Tender touches, so very human, but beautiful for it. Whispered words, promises, and declarations, that they both knew might never come true. For Erza couldn’t lie to Evergreen, couldn’t hide the differences for them, even as she matched her appearance to Evergreen’s age, trying to fit into the world that she had changed so irrevocably for the other woman. They both wanted more, whispered of eternity together, and knew that it couldn’t happen. That it was law that couldn’t be broken and tried to tell themselves that the lifetimes they had was enough.

For a time, they had even believed it.

But the drop of Ambrosia wasn’t enough to grant immortality, just longevity, and eventually, time and age sank its claws into Evergreen’s body and mind. She didn’t fight anymore, and when Erza came to her now, it was always the same house, and increasingly the same room, sneaking in late at night to curl around her in the bed and hold her close, clinging to the trickling, fading moments they had left.

And now time had run out.

Erza could feel it in the air, the whisper of a long defeat, death lurking in the shadows. It had called to her from across the world, and she had come, telling herself it was just to say goodbye. One last farewell before the end, but now that she was here, she knew that she had been lying to herself. She couldn’t say goodbye, not without at least trying for more, and with her hand on the flask at her belt, she finally stepped into the world. A Goddess in armour, with tears on her cheeks and a waver in her voice. “Leave,” she commanded the humans still in the room, imbuing her voice with a command that couldn’t be denied, masking her face with divine light as they gasped and wept, mistaking her for death, before slipping from the room.

On the bed, Evergreen stirred for the first time since Erza had arrived. Eyes shadowed, even as a smile crept across her face. “I knew you would come,” she whispered, voice already failing her, hand twitching on the covers as though to reach out for Erza. It pulled Erza forward, and she let the divine light fail, hesitant and almost human for a moment as she settled on the edge of the bed and twined her fingers with Evergreen’s. “My Love.”

“Yes, I came…” Erza murmured, repeating the words of a lifetime ago.

“I don’t think you can help this time,” Evergreen said, still smiling, but there were tears in the corners of her eyes and a desperation in the fingers clutching hers. “But I am glad I got to see you before…”

“I can help,” Erza cut across her, not able to let her finish. _Before the end,_ it hovered in the air between them as Evergreen blinked at her, not understanding, and Erza’s hands were trembling as she lifted the flask. “But there is a cost.” More words from a lifetime ago, and Evergreen’s eyes crinkled.

“I never asked last time.”

“Would it have changed what happened?” Erza asked hesitantly.

“No…” Evergreen breathed, squeezing their linked hands. “I wouldn’t give up this life, these lifetimes I’ve shared with you for anything.” Words that she’s said before, but that deep down Erza had always doubted, but here on the edge of everything there is a weight to the words and the armour around her heart, already weakened after the long years together splintered there and then as she lifted their hands to her mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of Evergreen’s hand.

“Then…will you let me give you eternity?” Erza asks, wanting to insist, feeling time slipping away as Evergreen’s breathing hitches, pauses and then continues a little softer, a little weaker than before. It doesn’t mask the way her eyes have widened, understanding, hope and then fear passing over her face.

“You said…”

“I know,” Erza whispered. She had explained the laws of the Gods, wanting Evergreen to understand her hesitations, the secrecy, the times when Erza couldn’t come to her… and why the Ambrosia she carried wasn’t for humans. “But I don’t want to lose you.” _I can’t,_ she thinks, heart, twisting in a way she had never experienced before at the thought of losing this woman that she has known for so long.

That she loves.

She wasn’t aware that she had looked down, or the tears that were falling once more, until a feathery touch brushed across her cheeks, wiping them away. Blinking she looked up, to find Evergreen had reached out with her free hand, trembling fingers curling against her cheek now, holding her gaze. Searching for something that Erza couldn’t name, smiling and soft. “I think…I think that’s a price I could pay.” Barely audible, her strength failing her as her hand fell away, but it was permission and love, and something eased in Erza’s chest. There were no laws, no potential punishment, just the two of them, and a promise to be fulfilled, and she was crying and smiling at the same time as she uncorked the flask.

With gentle hands, she lifted Evergreen’s head and pressed the mouth of the flask to her lips. “Then drink,” she whispered, and Evergreen obeyed. Golden light spilt forth from the flask, as she weakly sipped the thick, golden liquid. “All of it,” Erza encouraged when Evergreen tried to stop, no doubt remembering the single drop she’d had last time. Not all of it was required, but Erza wasn’t taking any chances, not now when they were so close to their eternity, and slowly the Ambrosia got to work.

Evergreen was shimmering, her skin and hair glittering gold, and as Erza finally pulled the now empty flask away, it was like watching time in reverse. Age melted away from Evergreen’s features, grey hair giving way to rich brown, wrinkles and creases from a lifetime of laughter fading away to leave behind smooth skin, shadows disappearing to leave her eyes bright and lively. It felt like it took hours, but was only minutes until Evergreen was pushing herself up to sit under her own power, and Erza found herself face to face with the woman who had kissed her for the first time all those years ago. Alive. Young. Forever so, as gold glittered in her eyes, a permanent marking of the immortality that now coursed through her body, Ambrosia given human form, and there were tears of a different sort in both their eyes as they leant into one another.

“I love you,” Erza whispered, the words she had never dared to say, although Evergreen had said them often and knew she felt the same, trembling as their lips brushed for a fleeting second.

“For Eternity,” Evergreen finished, capturing her lips and deepening the kiss.


End file.
